RSpec Regex Match Woes

01_failing_spec.rb

  describe '#users_dropdown' do
    subject { helper.users_dropdown(user) }

    let(:team) { create(:team) }

    let(:user) { create(:user, first_name: 'Current', last_name: 'User', userable: team) }
    let(:same_team_user1) { create(:user, first_name: 'John', last_name: 'Friend', userable: team) }
    let(:same_company_user2) { create(:user, first_name: 'Jack', last_name: 'Goodfriend') }
    let(:other_company_user) { create(:user, first_name: 'Jane', last_name: 'Enemy') }
    let(:deactivated_user) do
      create(:user, first_name: 'Jason', last_name: 'Friend', userable: team, deactivated: true)
    end

    let(:authorized_users_set) { [user, same_company_user2, same_team_user1, deactivated_user] }
    let(:authorized_users_relation) { User.where(id: authorized_users_set) }

    before(:each) do
      allow(user).to receive(:authorized_users).and_return(authorized_users_relation)
    end
    
    # passes
    it "includes a label 'User name' for 'user_id'" do
      actual_markup = helper.users_dropdown(user).to_s
      expected_label_tag = label_tag(:user_id, 'User name').to_s

      expect(actual_markup).to match(expected_label_tag)
    end

    # passes 
    it 'includes a select tag with content' do
      actual_markup = helper.users_dropdown(user).to_s

      expect(actual_markup).to match(/\<select/)
      expect(actual_markup).to match(/select\>/)
    end

    # fails
    it 'returns the markup for a select box labeled \'User name\' with  ' \
      'options for each of the user\'s authorized_users, listed last_name first, ' \
      'ordered by last_name' do
      actual_markup = helper.users_dropdown(user)

      expect(actual_markup).to match(/John.*Jack.*Current/)
    end
    ...
  end

02_pry_debugging.rb

[47] pry(#<RSpec::ExampleGroups::DashboardHelper::UsersDropdown>)> actual_string
=> "<label for=\"user_id\">User name</label><select id=\"user_id\" name=\"user_id\"><option value=\"\">All Users</option><option value=\"3\">Friend, John</option>\n<option value=\"2\">Goodfriend, Jack</option>\n<option value=\"1\">User, Current</option></select>"
[48] pry(#<RSpec::ExampleGroups::DashboardHelper::UsersDropdown>)> actual_string.strip == actual_string
=> true
[49] pry(#<RSpec::ExampleGroups::DashboardHelper::UsersDropdown>)> actual_string.match(/John/)                                          
=> #<MatchData "John">
[50] pry(#<RSpec::ExampleGroups::DashboardHelper::UsersDropdown>)> actual_string.match(/John.*Jack/)
=> nil
[51] pry(#<RSpec::ExampleGroups::DashboardHelper::UsersDropdown>)> actual_string.strip.match(/John.*Jack/)                              
=> nil
[52] pry(#<RSpec::ExampleGroups::DashboardHelper::UsersDropdown>)> String.new(actual_string).strip.match(/John.*Jack/)
=> nil

03_regex_correctness.txt

http://rubular.com/r/qvliy5nuL1

problem here involved the newline characters in the outputted HTML.

possibly more relevant info at: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5239997/regex-how-to-match-multiple-lines/8075288#8075288